Happy is he whose wants reflect his needs,
but woe to him whose ever-hungry mind
cannot possess the thing it covets most;
our boundless longing never dies but grows,
and growing racks us all the more: who yearns
the most must always settle for much less.
That man who's pleased with what he has seems much
more rich to me than he who values what
he doesn't have above the things he owns.
True wealth is tranquil poverty, so long
as it supplies life's needs. If you feel rich
or poor, it's what you're used to, nothing more.

In this natural state of primordial nonarising,
There is nothing to be negated and nothing to be affirmed.
Nirvāṇa and nonnirvāṇa
Are without difference in the natural state of nonarising.

This is not even nonarising as such,
Because arising things do not exist.
The seeming does not exist, the ultimate does not exist,
Buddhas do not exist, sentient beings do not exist,

Views do not exist, something to be meditated on does not exist,
Conduct does not exist, and results do not exist:
The actuality of this is what is to be cultivated.
Let this mind free from thoughts rest in its own peace.

Without identifying something, without being distracted,
Without characteristics and luminous—thus meditate

Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche wrote:
Mind is empty, we don’t have to make it empty...

Do not hold onto the notion that mind is empty. To hold an idea, ‘Now it is empty; now it is empty,’ is a conceptual construct that we keep in mind. That is not necessary. In the moment of recognising, you see that mind is empty. At that point allow it to be naturally as it is, without applying any technique whatsoever. That is naturalness with­out technique. That will last for a little while. Your attention will then stray, and you will at some point notice that your attention wandered off. Our mind is not completely beyond us—we know when we get distracted. Simply recognise what was distracted. Again, the moment you do so, you see that there is no thing to see...

Let me tell you something you already know. The world ain't all sunshine and rainbows. It's a very mean and nasty place, and I don't care how tough you are, it will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it. You, me, or nobody is gonna hit as hard as life. But it ain't about how hard you hit. It's about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward; how much you can take and keep moving forward. That's how winning is done! Now if you know what you're worth, then go out and get what you're worth, but you gotta be willing to take the hits, and not pointing fingers saying you ain't where you wanna be because of him, or her, or anybody. Cowards do that and that ain't you. You're better than that! I'm always gonna love you, no matter what. No matter what happens. You're my son and you're my blood. You're the best thing in my life. But until you start believing in yourself, you ain't gonna have a life.

The nun Soma has entered Andhavana (Blind Man's Grove) near Savatthi to practice meditation. Mara, the embodiment of delusion, sees her there and desires to make her waver and abandon her concentration. He addresses her with a verse:

That which can be attained by seers
— The place so hard to arrive at —
Women are not able to reach,
Since they lack sufficient wisdom.

[Soma replies:]
What difference does being a woman make
When the mind is well-composed,
When knowledge is proceeding on,
When one rightly sees into Dhamma?

Indeed for whom the question arises:
"Am I a man or a woman?"
Or, "Am I even something at all?"
To them alone is Mara fit to talk!

Here is how the nature of mind is introduced in the Mahamudra system. First the practitioner is told, "Look into your mind." The big question at this point is, "What is mind?" The teacher will say, "Do you sometimes feel happy or sad? Do you want things? Do you like and dislike this and that? Okay, look into that which feels those emotions." After doing that, the practitioner then reports, "Well, that which thinks and feels does not seem to be a real thing. But, at the same time, there are thoughts and emotions." The teacher will say, "All right. Keep a close eye on that thinker." Afterwards, the student will return and tell the teacher, "Well, I've been looking into the thinker and sometimes it makes many thoughts about this and that and sometimes it just rests without thinking anything."

For a diligent person to reach this point in the process takes about two or three months. The disciple becomes very clear about the fact that, mind, the thinker, is not a real thing. Even though this is true, it gets involved in thinking up all possible things and sometimes remains without thinking of anything. These two states, thought-occurrence and stillness, refer to thinking and the cessation of thinking. These aspects can correspondingly be called 'arising and ceasing'. Through all our lifetimes since beginningless time until now, we have been caught up in the arising and ceasing of thoughts.

The teacher will then say, "Let's give these two states names. When there is thinking taking place, call it 'occurrence'. When there are no thoughts, call it 'stillness'." This is pointing out occurrence and stillness. Normal people do not notice these two states. They do not know the difference between occurrence and stillness. After this, the disciple will feel, "Now, I understand these two states. Thinking of this and that is called occurrence. Not thinking of anything is called stillness."

The teacher will say, "Your mind is like a person who doesn't work all the time. At times he takes a rest. Sometimes he moves around and other times he sits still and doesn't do anything. Although the mind is empty, it neither works nor remains quiet all the time."

Being able to notice its thought-occurrence and stillness doesn't mean one knows the real nature of this mind. It is simply the ability to detect when there are thoughts and when there is not the presence and absence of thought. This is called 'knowing the character of the mind'. It is not knowing buddha nature. Sometimes your attention keeps still and some- times it moves around. As long as you merely keep an eye on whether there is thinking or stillness and never go beyond this exercise, you will not reach enlightenment.

The teacher will then give the next instruction, saying, "Now, don't just notice whether there is stillness or thought occurrence. When there is thinking, look into the thinker. When there is stillness, look into what feels the stillness."

The disciple will return entirely bewildered and say, "When I look into what feels the stillness, I don't find anything whatsoever. When the thinking occurs and I look into what thinks, I don't find any 'thing' either. Not only that, but both the thinking and the feeling of stillness disappear. Now what am I supposed to do? Before, I could take charge of something. I could identify the thinking and the stillness. But it's not like that anymore. When I look into what thinks, the thinker vanishes. When I look into what is still, that's also gone. I'm at a complete loss. I have lost both the thinker and that which feels still."

The teacher will reply, "No, you are not at all at a complete loss. Now you have arrived at Mahamudra, at the nature of mind. You need to train in this for months and years. Before, you were only concerned with the manifestation, not with the nature. Now the manifestation has vanished. What is left is the nature itself."

Rainbow Painting pg. 116-117
Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche

"People often get too quick to say 'there's no self. There's no self...no self...no self.' There is self, there is focal point, its not yours. That's what not self is."

Ninoslav Ñāṇamoli
Senses and the Thought-1, 42:53

"Those who create constructs about the Buddha,
Who is beyond construction and without exhaustion,
Are thereby damaged by their constructs;
They fail to see the Thus-Gone.

That which is the nature of the Thus-Gone
Is also the nature of this world.
There is no nature of the Thus-Gone.
There is no nature of the world."

DHAMMA DISCOURSE BY THE MOST VENERABLE MAHASI SAYADAW
TRANSLATED BY SAYADAW U SUNANDA

After reading this treatise, if you are still having that precious opportunity, how are you going to use it? Is it befitting to be complacent just by preaching whatever knowledge you have gained? Or, is it proper to heedlessly waste time and energy in hankering after the endless sensuous affairs?
In actual fact, is it not time for you to strive not to be helpless, but to have ready at hand the dependable dhamma, when lying on the final death-bed, without recovery? For timely exertion before-hand, the Buddha personally gave constant admonishment as follows:­

Who knows by tomorrow, one may still be living or dead.
Thus reflecting, without procrastinating tomorrow or the day after,
One should incessantly exert right away on this very day.

This is because the Lord of Death and his battalions of soldiers are armed with diversity of lethal weapons such as water, fire, poison, ammunition, diseases, etc. With such formidable Lord of Death, we have no truce for peace, no compromise to exempt, no bribery to defer the appointment, nor are we fortified ourselves to resist. So who can be sure of our being alive or dead tomorrow?
Not having exerted at opportune time, when one becomes infirm, sick and laid up on death-bed or fallen to the four apaya (woeful) realms, one can be greatly oppressed by remorse for "mistakes of failure to exert before".

To avoid such kind of repentance, the Buddha's following exhortation should be obeyed :­